The Truth
by 14hpgirl19
Summary: TWO-SHOT When JJ is kidnapped by an UnSub, she is forced to reveal her true feelings for Hotch because of a truth serum. How does he react? Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

The Truth

_She was in a bright room. It didn't seem to have any particular furniture in it, just whiteness. Her first thought was that something was wrong. It was too calm._

_ What had just happened? Bits of memory flew around her mind, but she couldn't hold on to them long enough to string something together. There was a case… they had figured out who the UnSub was….. Then what?_

Am I dead? _She began to wonder. _Is this what the afterlife is? _Before she could explore her surroundings more, she noticed she wasn't alone. _He _was there. Tall, dark, and handsome. Brooding and stoic. Her Unit Chief._

_ "Hotch?" she whispered, immediately wondering if he died as well._

_ "JJ?" he asked. Relief spread across his face. "Oh, thank God. I was so worried…."_

_ JJ felt her heart leap at his words. He worried about her? That meant he cared!_

_ Hotch took a few steps forward and reached out towards her. JJ reached for him as well, only to be jerked back. She leaned forward again, falling even further back. The brightness of the area began to diminish. _

_ "Hotch!" she cried desperately, reaching for him. He held out his hands for her to grab, but she was too far. "JJ!" he yelled. At least, she thought he yelled. It sounded like it was from far away._

_ "Hotch!" she cried one more time before the whole world went black._

The first thing she noticed was her head hurt.

Actually, hurt was an understatement. It felt as though someone had hit it with a thousand sledgehammers. Who knew, maybe someone had.

The next thing she noticed was her surroundings. She was in a dark basement by the looks of it. The only source of light came from a feeble light bulb hanging from the ceiling. She couldn't even tell where the door was.

It felt like she was chained to a poll. Her wrists were cuffed, and she quickly realized these cuffs weren't cheap, which meant she couldn't work her way out of them. After a few seconds of struggling, she realized one more thing.

She wasn't alone.

A pair of eyes were watching her from just outside the small ring of light. JJ's heart soared at the thought of it being Hotch, and then plummeted when she realized it wasn't him. It was the person they identified as the UnSub, Jackson Carter.

The case was out in Wyoming. Five blonde, blue-eyed women had been raped and murdered over the past two months. The profilers deduced that the UnSub, Carter, had been in love with a woman who fit the description of the victims before she broke his heart in some way. Garcia, with her wonderful computer magic, found Carter in a list of men who had went through a divorce recently (That had been the stressor). He had been married to Michelle Carter, who was your typical popular girl in high school.

After the divorce, Carter began taking his anger out on women who looked like Michelle. The team instantly realized JJ fit the victimology to a T. The men became annoyingly protective of JJ after that, even Reid. The worst was Hotch. He refused to let her out of his sight and sometimes wouldn't even let her leave the police station. While JJ was pleased he cared so much, the alpha male was seriously getting on her nerves. He made it seem like she couldn't do her job with an UnSub targeting women who looked like her. JJ couldn't wait for the case to be over.

Once Garcia found the UnSub's name and address, the team went to his house. Hotch almost didn't let her come, but JJ was steadfast, even going so far as to plant herself in the SUV and refuse to leave. Hotch looked furious, but allowed it to happen. Now that JJ thought about it though, she should have stayed back. She went around the back with Morgan, but when he heard a noise from the opposite side of the house, he took off, leaving JJ alone. Carter had been waiting in the bushes behind her, and he knocked her out with a heavy object to the head.

That was all JJ remembered, and now she was here, in the basement of Carter's second location, wherever that was. Garcia hadn't found another address, so it would be awhile until the team found her.

"Hello, Agent Jareau," Carter said smoothly, finally stepping into the light. He was tall, maybe six feet, with buzz cut black hair and steely eyes. JJ froze at the use of her name. He knew who she was. _He probably took my credentials, _she thought.

"I was wondering when you would wake up," he continued. "I was going to wake you up, but it sounded like you were having an…..interesting dream."

JJ frowned at that. _What was I dreaming about?_ Before she could really think about it, Carter spoke again.

"Would 'Hotch' refer to your fearless leader, Agent Hotchner?"

JJ's stomach dropped into the floor. Her mind raced with a thousand questions. _Did I say _his _name out loud? How does he know Hotch is our leader? Where am I? Where's the team?_

"You must be wondering how I know you and your team, Agent Jareau," Carter continued. JJ remained silent, wanting to hear this. "You see, I did my research. I had to know who was disrupting my plans. I know all about your team. Agent Prentiss. Agent Morgan. Agent Rossi. Technical Analyst Garcia. Dr. Reid. And, of course, Agent Hotchner." He paused here, gauging JJ's reaction. She had learned from the best, however, and kept her face perfectly expressionless. Seething slightly, Carter stepped closer her and dropped into a sitting position.

"Agent Hotchner is your supervisor, is he not?"

"He is," JJ said evenly, speaking for the first time.

"Relationships between a supervisor and his subordinate are forbidden, right?"

JJ's stomach dropped again. He couldn't know how her felt about her boss. The team didn't know, though Garcia suspected.

"I'm not in a relationship with him," she said in her best media liaison voice.

"But you want to be," Carter pressed. JJ gulped.

"What gives you that idea?"

"You said his name in your sleep."

She winced internally. Of course she had. "I have no romantic feelings toward Agent Hotchner," she said. _Say it enough times and _maybe_ someday you'll believe it. _

Carter gave her a twisted grin. "There's no need to lie to me. I made not be a profiler," he said profiler like a swear word. "But I know true feelings when I see them. Or I thought I did." His voice got very low with the last statement. JJ tensed slightly.

He stood up abruptly and walked to a dark corner. "You blonde bitches are all the same," he spat. "You think because you're beautiful you can trample all over us. You think you can have whoever you want." He stomped back over to where JJ sat, and shoved his face close to hers. "Well, guess what? You _can't _have whoever you want! The man you love is off limits!" He said the last part triumphantly.

JJ had one more chance. "I told you, I don't love Agent Hotchner."

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" Carter yelled. JJ winced. He stepped back and said in an eerily calm voice, "You can't have whoever you want, and I'm going to prove it to you." With that, Carter pulled a white cloth over her face, and that was the last thing JJ remembered.


	2. Chapter 2

The Truth

When JJ woke up next, she once again realized she wasn't alone. It took her a few seconds in the dim light, and she had to turn her head to the left. After another moment, she noticed this person looked like they were tied up as well. It wasn't Jackson Carter.

It was Hotch.

"Hotch?" she whispered worriedly. _Oh no,_ she thought to herself. _Please don't let him be in danger because of me._

The Unit Chief lifted his head with a groan. "JJ?" he asked, his voice no louder than a whisper.

"Oh, Hotch, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."

"JJ," he said again. "Don't be crazy. This isn't your fault."

_But it is_, she thought. If Carter hadn't discovered her feelings, he wouldn't have been abducted. She pushed those thoughts away and asked, "Are you hurt?"

Hotch let out a sigh. "My head feels awful, but other than that, I'm fine."

"Yeah, he's got a strong swing," JJ agreed.

"What about you? We've been worried sick since you went missing."

"How long ago was that exactly?"

"Not even ten hours, but due to Carter's timeline with victims, we were terrified."

JJ found it interesting that the fearless Aaron Hotchner used the word terrified to describe himself, but pushed that aside for now. She explained to him what had happened since she was abducted, leaving out her dream and the majority of her conversation with Carter. Hotch was silent throughout the whole thing, so JJ had no clue as to what he was thinking.

Once she was done her story, Hotch sighed. "He got me like he got you. I received a text telling me to come to the woods behind Carter's house alone. He said you would be there. Once I got there, I was hit on the head, and that's all I remember."

JJ frowned. "You went alone? Did you tell anyone?"

"I told Morgan if I wasn't back in twenty minutes to have Garcia track my phone, which I left by Carter's house."

JJ was still unsettled. "That was risky and so unlike you. You know better."

Hotch was silent, and before JJ could say anything else, a door creaked open. Bright light shined down from the upper part of the room as Carter slunk in. The two profilers hissed at the sudden light.

"Wonderful, you're both up," Carter said, shutting the door behind him. He clomped down the stairs and strode over to the corner opposite JJ. A small work light clicked on, and JJ couldn't see what he was doing due to his back obstructing her view. She glanced at Hotch and saw him frown in confusion. He craned his neck slightly to try and see what Carter was doing. After a second, Hotch's eyes widened and he looked at JJ. Before he could mouth something, Carter turned around.

The first thing JJ saw was the syringe. It was filled with a clear liquid. Her thoughts immediately went to Reid and his problems with Diluded. _Oh please, no._

Carter eyed the two agents before saying, "Agent Hotchner, welcome to the party."

Hotch's face became the perfect poker face as he said, "I didn't know I was invited."

Carter clucked his tongue. "Of course we were. You got my text, didn't you?"

"I suppose I did," Hotch said coolly.

"And you came without backup, just as I had hoped. Isn't that against protocol?"

Hotch didn't answer.

"You just came running to save Agent Jareau. That probably gave her some hope."

To the untrained eye, Hotch's face remained expressionless, but JJ had been around profilers long enough to pick something up. What she saw was Hotch's eyebrows furrow slightly in confusion.

"Hope?"

Carter ignored his question and instead said, "What do you feel about relationships in the workplace?"  
>JJ winced internally. So it had finally come to this. She would be embarrassed, and would have her heart broken right before she died due to some overdose. The blonde profiler had given up on the chances of Hotch loving her ages ago. She knew nothing good would come of her pining after him.<p>

Hotch hesitated before answering. "I don't think it's a good idea….."

JJ's heart shattered, but she couldn't focus on that for long. Carter's face lit up with Hotch's words. He whipped his head around to focus on JJ. "You see? You can't have him."

Hotch turned and looked at JJ with a questioning look in his eyes, but JJ was staring at Carter.

"I told you," she said through gritted teeth. "I. Don't. Love. Him."

Had she been looking at Hotch, she might have noticed a crestfallen look cross his face, but she was too focused on the syringe coming closer to her arm.

"Fine," Carter said. "Keep lying. You won't be able to in a second." With that, he plunged the needle into JJ's arm. She let out a hiss of discomfort. Carter stepped back and smiled a sadistic smile. "The truth serum should be working soon."

JJ's mind raced. _Truth serum? _Now she would be forced to reveal her true feelings for Hotch while he sat right next to her listening. He already said he didn't approve of relationships in the workplace. If she survived it, she would be forced to transfer. _That's the only way,_ she thought sadly.

After a few minutes, Carter clapped his hands together. "Alright, let's get started. I'll start with something simple, just to make sure the serum is working. What is your name?"

"Jennifer Jareau, but my friends call me JJ."

"Do you have any kids?"

JJ tried to keep this information tucked away, but she couldn't stop herself from saying, "A son. His name is Henry."

This seemed to please Carter. "What's his father's name?"

JJ closed her eyes as she heard her voice say, "Will LaMontagne Jr."

"Is he your fiancé?"

"No," she replied.

"Your boyfriend?"

JJ hesitated slightly, and then said, "No." Her voice was no more than a whisper.

Hotch had remained silent throughout the conversation, but when he heard JJ's last answer, he let out a small gasp of surprise. The team didn't know JJ and Will broke up. They knew they were having problems, but that was it.

Carter seemed thrilled with JJ's answers. "Do you love him?"

Again JJ tried to stop herself from saying it, but her mouth seemed to move on its own accord. "No."

"Are you in love?"

JJ's heart beat wildly. They were almost there. "Y-yes."

Carter had a huge grin on his face at this point. He looked between the two agents before saying, "Who do you love?"

JJ clamped her mouth shut as tightly as she could. At first she thought she was in the clear after a few seconds passed, but suddenly her mouth popped open and said the name she had been trying to avoid saying.

"Aaron Hotchner."

Hotch's head whipped around and he looked at her with wide eyes. JJ kept her head down, tears pooling up in her eyes. She didn't want to see his face. She didn't want to see the disgust and pity that was on his face.

Carter laughed crazily. "You love him! Did you hear that, Agent Hotchner? She loves you! But you don't like office romances right? What do you have to say to her?"

JJ was terrified to hear what Hotch had to say, but before he could even open his mouth, the basement door banged open.

"FBI!" Morgan yelled downstairs. JJ wanted to cry in relief. Carter's eyes widened in shock. "Jackson Carter, put the syringe down. You are under arrest for the murders and rapes of five women, and the kidnapping of two federal agents."

Morgan cuffed Carter while Reid and Rossi freed Hotch and JJ.

"You okay, kid?" Rossi asked JJ.

"Yeah," JJ breathed. "Just a head wound. I'm so happy to see you guys…" She trailed off as he watched Reid lead Hotch from the basement. Her stomach was fluttering with worry.

_He probably hates me now,_ she thought mournfully.

"We're happy to see you too," Rossi was saying. "Come on, you need your head checked out." He led her up the stairs, which JJ was grateful for. Her head was throbbing painfully, and she wondered exactly how hard Carter hit her.

Outside the house, Rossi brought her over to an ambulance where a medic was waiting to look her over. JJ stopped in her tracks.

"Do I have to go to the hospital?" she groaned. Rossi chuckled.

"Probably not," he said with a smile. JJ gave him a feeble grin as she continued to walk towards the ambulance. For the next ten minutes, the medic looked over her head thoughtfully.

Finally he said, "Possibly a concussion. I need to run a proper test to be sure. You'll have to come to the hospital."

JJ moaned. Before she could argue, however, a familiar voice said, "That won't be necessary. I'll make sure she gets her head checked back at Quantico."

JJ turned and saw Hotch standing there. Her stomach lurched at the sight of him. On first inspection, he looked fine. She saw him rub his head gently, and she knew he would have to get tested too.

The medic frowned, then nodded and walked away after telling JJ she could go. She thanked him and stood up, chancing a glance at Hotch. He looked back at her, and his gaze softened slightly. He tilted his head to the side, and said, "Walk with me."

She followed him down the house's dirt driveway. They didn't go far, just past the chaos of police and federal agents. After a few moments, Hotch stopped walking and turned to face her.

He bit his lip, and looked away. He seemed to be struggling with what to say. Finally he exhaled and said, "About what you said in there…."

JJ cut him off. "Look, Hotch, don't worry about it. I won't let it get in the way of my job. If it makes you uncomfortable, I can get a transfer or-"

He held up his hand. "Wait, who said anything about a transfer?"

"I-I just thought-"

"You thought I wouldn't want to see my girlfriend every day?"

That floored JJ. Did he just say _girlfriend?_

Hotch looked at her, and she saw something she had never seen before in his eyes: fear. He was scared he had frightened her. _But that means he was serious. _JJ couldn't believe it. Her heart soared higher than it ever had before.

Hotch interpreted her silence as a bad sign. "If you want to forget what I just said, you can. I didn't mean to-" he was cut off by JJ pressing her lips to his in a fervent kiss. He quickly wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back. The kiss let out all the feelings they had been hiding for the past few years. JJ never felt this way with Will.

Entirely too soon, they pulled apart gasping for air. "But what about what you said about relationships in the workplace?"

Hotch shook his head. "I said it to make Carter trust me."

JJ smiled at that, and Hotch did as well. He kissed her again, gently and sweetly. When he pulled away, he whispered, "You have no idea how long I've waited to do that."

JJ grinned. "Me too."

Hotch smiled and said, "I love you, Jennifer Jareau."

"I love you too, Aaron Hotchner."

THE END

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who read and alerted this story! It really made my day. I'm new to writing fan fiction, and I really enjoy it, so if anyone wants to see a JJ/Hotch or Hotch/Prentiss story, let me know! Somethings I won't do (smut), but I'm up for anything. :) Oh, and please leave a review for this story! I would really appreciate it :)**


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